Chile’s finance minister highlights OECD Economic Survey: Chile 2021

Finance Minister Rodrigo Cerda announced that the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released the report entitled “OECD Economic Survey: Chile 2021”, providing its insight into and diagnosis of the economic situation in Chile and the measures and economic policies adopted by Chile in recent times.

“This survey is very significant because it permits us to better analyze the impact that the pandemic has had on our economy,” Finance Minister Rodrigo Cerda said during the presentation of the report prepared by Alvaro Pereira, Director of the Country Studies Branch of the OECD Economics Department.

“We have been an OECD member state for a period of ten years. During this time, Chile has accomplished much and clearly, our strong economic policies have allowed us to mitigate this unprecedented crisis. In this regard, I take pride in knowing that the OECD has highlighted Chile’s strong and credible institutions that adopted key economic and social policies in facing these challenges,” the Minister added.

The main conclusions of the economic survey for Chile during 2020 focused on the following:

• Together with highlighting the economic advancement made by Chile and the reduction of poverty in recent decades, the organization underscored the strengths that Chile relied on while facing the unprecedented economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this regard and according to the OECD, Chile’s solid macroeconomic and institutional framework has made it possible for Chile to mitigate the impact by having one of the highest fiscal margins anywhere in the region.

• The OECD foresees that Chile’s recovery will be gradual over the next two years, underscoring a GDP growth projection of around 4.2% for this year and 3.0% for 2022. 

• As far as political matters are concerned, the report indicates that Chile has reacted quickly and assertively during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the close coordination existing between Chile’s economic high-ranking officials. Worth noting is the introduction of unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus packages described by the organization as being the largest in Latin America. 

• As for the healthcare system, the OECD concludes that the Government of Chile acted quickly in handling the pandemic by guaranteeing access to healthcare services for all, highlighting that there was an improvement in the Chilean healthcare system in terms of efficacy, quality and equality.

• Also, the OECD report outlines that Chile has taken a solid path towards mitigating the threat of climate change and indicates that the economic recovery represents an opportunity for the integration of environmental improvements at the economic level.

• According to the report, the main challenges facing Chile in the medium and long term continue to be in matters dealing with education, inclusive growth and the reduction of socioeconomic inequality. Productivity and digitalization of the economy are also outlined as tasks that remain pending.